This invention relates to a retainer for a spherical or self-aligning bearing member, and more particularly to a retainer which may be installed merely by inserting it into the hub of a bearing support member and by rotating it a fraction of a turn so as to "self-thread" the retainer into resilient retaining engagement with the bearing member to be retained thereby to secure the retainer and the bearing member in place within the hub.
In general, self-aligning bearing assemblies used in conjunction with this invention are typically intended for use in dynamoelectric machines, such as for journalling the rotor shaft of an electric motor within the end shields of the motor. Reference may be made to such prior U.S. Pat. Nos. as 3,423,138, 3,966,278, 4,014,596 and 4,090,749, and to French patent 1,171,829 which disclose various prior art self-aligning bearing and spherical bearing member retainers. Two particularly useful prior art spherical bearing assemblies are those shown in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,966,278 and 4,090,749, co-assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In the above-noted U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,278, the retainer is stamped from sheet spring steel or the like and has two relatively broad fingers at opposite sides thereof which, upon resilient deformation thereof and rotation or twisting of the retainer in the end shield bearing hub, cause the fingers to move behind a pair of diametrically opposed lugs formed within the end shield hub thereby to hold the retainer in positive engagement with a spherical bearing member. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,749, an improvement over the bearing retainer disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,278, disclosed that by providing a bearing retainer with four point contact between the retainer and the hub (as opposed to two broad legs) and further that by providing positive stop for the retainer so as to prevent twisting of the retainer in the hub beyond a desired angular position. However, these so-called "twist-lock" prior art bearing retaining arrangements required that the retaining lugs in the hub have inclined surfaces or ramps (so-called lead ramps or threaded surfaces) which were cooperable with the retainers for threading them into resilient engagement with their bearing member upon turning or twisting of the retainer in the hub. However, the provision of such lead ramps in the hub added somewhat to the complexity of the molds for diecasting the hubs and also fixed the position of the retainer in the axial direction with respect to the hub so that the retainer could not accommodate (at least to a substantial degree) axial dimensional variations between the bearing members of different motors.
Among the several objects and features of the present invention may be noted the provision of a spherical bearing retainer which may be readily and positively installed in a bearing hub so as to resiliently retain a spherical bearing member in a desired location within the hub;
The provision of such a bearing retainer which may be readily and economically fabricated with minimal scrap;
The provision of such a bearing retainer which may be readily twisted or turned upon installation in the hub so as to threadingly draw the retainer into the resilient engagement with its respective spherical bearing member, which is positively secured with respect to the hub, which requires no lead ramps or other thread means on the hub structure, and which may be secured in place in the hub structure without reference to any fixed point on the hub; and
The provision of such a bearing retainer which may be readily utilized in connection with self-aligning bearing assemblies typically used in dynamoelectric machines or the like.
Other objects and features of this invention will be in part pointed out and in part apparent hereinafter.